Running head: STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF BLACKBERRY LTD.

Strategic Analysis of Blackberry Ltd.

Shalmon V. Ghagre (10830873)

Coventry University

Author Note

This paper was prepared for the CW2 of the Module 7077CEM – IS/IT Strategy.
STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF BLACKBERRY LTD. 2

Table of Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................... 3

Blue Ocean Strategy .................................................................................................. 4

PEST Analysis ........................................................................................................... 4

SWOT Analysis ......................................................................................................... 6

Justification ................................................................................................................ 7

Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 8

References .................................................................................................................... 10
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Introduction

Blackberry Limited, originally known as Research in Motion (RIM), is a Canadian

cybersecurity software firm started in March 1984 by Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin.

RIM was the first wireless data technology developer in North America, as well as the first

firm outside of Scandinavia, to create connection solutions for Mobitex wireless packet-

switched data communications networks, in 1988.

The Blackberry brand was established in 1999 when RIM debuted the Blackberry 850 pager.

Over time, Blackberry evolved into producing portable mobile phones with email services,

top-notch security, and the most popular physical QWERTY keyboard.

According to Statista Research Department(2022), Blackberry owned roughly 33.02 percent

of the market share in the UK in December 2011, dropping to 2.31 percent in December

2012.

A drop of 30.71% was observed in 5 years and it continued to drop till 0% in November 2021

Blackberry failed to stay on top of the market for a variety of reasons, including failing to

adapt to changing market conditions. For example, when Apple first released its touchscreen

phone, Blackberry ignored the competition at first, but later tried to catch up by introducing

Storm, their first touchscreen mobile phone in competition with the iPhone, but customers

complained about its performance.

Following the introduction of the iPhone, Blackberry's product sales began to fall.

With Blackberry as a case study, this report delves into strategic conceptual models such as

SWOT, PEST, and Blue Ocean Strategy and clearly highlights the instances where

blackberry’s strategy could have done better with appropriate recommendations.

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Blue Ocean Strategy

The Blue Ocean Strategy refers to a market for a product where there is little or very little

rivalry, allowing developers to create new items rather than creating in the Red Ocean, which

is already saturated (Young, 2022)

In RIM's instance, launching Blackberry was a Blue ocean strategic decision since they did

not compete in the current phone industry; instead, they invented something new. Employees

could access their work mail virtually anywhere and at any time because to Blackberry's

focus on providing secure email access. This made work more efficient since employees

could access their work mail virtually anywhere and at any time.

Blackberry grabbed buyers attention as their handheld devices were reliable, their battery life

was good and it had all the functionalities that a PDA could have.

Blackberry’s email services were protected so securely that if a device was lost somewhere,

blackberry could disable the device from their central control server according to frontier

strategy. Using this strategy Blackberry’s sales increased from $6 Billion in 2008 to $19.9

billion in the first year of 2011.

Blackberry’s success in the Market lasted good for a while until Apple came into the

competition with its iPhone.

PEST Analysis

Political

Blackberry was able to capture markets in the United States and had a good relationship with

politicians, but they had difficulty bringing the product to countries such as China, India, the

United Arab Emirates, and others because these countries were concerned about the security

Blackberry provided.
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Economic

Because the smart phone market is founded on the consumer's income, economic aspects are

crucial.

Blackberry's worth in India, China, and Latin America has shown promise. Exchange rates

would have an impact on the business because exchange fluctuations can make Blackberry

either incredibly competitive or very expensive.

Social

Social considerations play a crucial part in contributing to the success of an organisation; in

the instance of Blackberry, sales in the United States were high due to its enterprise-level

security and business functionality (Luo, 2018).

Holiday seasons may have a big impact on electronic equipment sales, thus it's normal to

expect blackberry sales to increase around that time.

Another factor that may have an impact on the brand image of Blackberry and its products is

the use of the product by anti-social groups, as the consumer market in religiously sensitive

countries may perceive the product as being associated with the anti-social group, and

businesses may refuse to use the product due to the government's strict policies affecting the

product's performance.

Technological

Blackberry's phones were very adaptive to technical advances, such as adjusting to evolving

network systems back in the day, due to technological causes.

Blackberry's products eventually began to deteriorate as they realised that their customers'

expectations were shifting and that they had failed to stay up with competitor technologies.
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SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Because of its security and technology, Blackberry has a strong reputation among business

users of handheld devices, which is one of its assets.

Blackberry's devices may work with any mobile carrier, which is one of the company's

primary advantages.

Blackberry is preferred by government entities in the United States because of its security,

making it a perfect phone for dealing with extremely sensitive information.

Weaknesses

Blackberry's problem was that it focused on security features and targeted business

customers, but firms like Samsung and Apple released portable devices with greater

functionality and security.

Small company owners were forced to acquire costly enterprise software, prompting them to

move to their competitors, who offered more features and advantages to customers, thereby

putting Blackberry out of business.

Eventually, businesses such as Apple and Samsung began to capture the blackberry user base

by providing a better user experience and interface, as well as the same security measures as

Apple.

Opportunities

In 2005, Blackberry rejected a $7.5 billion buyout bid from Samsung and instead took a

financial infusion from a Silicon Valley firm. After that, Blackberry hired a new CEO and

restructured their organisation.

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They had the option of incorporating third-party apps into their devices, emulating their

competitors' approach of expanding their partnerships with third-party suppliers.

Threats

Companies such as Apple and Samsung posed a challenge to Blackberry by giving more

flexibility and a better user interface and experience than Blackberry, which they lacked,

allowing competitors to gain a significant market share.

Apart from competition, Blackberry faced issues such as low staff morale and a lack of

adequate organisational direction.

Justification

After the debut of the iPhone in nations such as the United States, Blackberry's sales began to

drop, but they remained popular in Asian countries since the iPhone had not yet entered the

Asian market.

Companies like Samsung utilised a strategy of releasing new smartphone models on a near-

quarterly basis, with newer features and lower prices. Blackberry, on the other hand, was

more concerned about security and kept its phones looking the same.

This demonstrates that Blackberry has been unable to adapt to change.

The greatest advice for Blackberry to have remained competitive in the market would have

been to concentrate on developing a strategy to learn new skills rather than relying just on

what it does well(security features)

Reeves and Diemler (2011) propose four organisational capabilities to achieve adaptive

advantages: the ability to read and act on change in the external environment, the ability to

experiment on developing new products and services regardless of failure because they can

learn from their failures, and the ability to manage complex multicompany systems by
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transparently interacting with the participants, using Toyota's automotive supply pyramids

with Kanban and Kaizen feedback mechanisms as an example.

And finally the ability mobilise.

Blackberry's instance plainly demonstrates a lack of competitive analysis, since the company

completely overlooked its rivals. Other firms considered ease and accessibility in order to

appeal to consumers, whereas Blackberry was only concerned with catering to business

people.

As previously noted in relation to adapting to change, failing to adapt to better operating

systems is one of the reasons for Blackberry's failure. When Android first entered the market,

it would have been prudent for Blackberry to adapt it.

By working with Dell and IBM, Blackberry can yet grow from its current position in the

smartphone industry. Despite having a bad strategic focus in its smartphone product section,

Blackberry has continued to develop by offering a variety of services and products such as

embedded systems, IoT, and business solutions.

Conclusion

After a brief examination of Blackberry's strategic approach, it can be noticed that the

company had used a Blue Ocean Strategy, which was only beneficial for a limited time. As

the analysis was further delved into evaluating the company's SWOT, it was clear that

Blackberry should've been agile to change and vigilant against competitors such as Apple and

Samsung.

The 7 Principles of Digital Business Strategy model presented by Niall McKeown and Mark

Durkin is an excellent model since it is highly specific, such as knowing your customers,

market position, and yourself.

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If Blackberry had performed a thorough investigation of themselves and knew what their

customers anticipated, they could have had a chance to resuscitate themselves. They

should've been more adaptable, responding to market needs while preserving their

individuality and panache.

Blackberry's case can be a lesson to many other companies which are trying to get their share

of the market, the lesson learnt from this would be that without a strategy, the path to

achieving goals is not clearly defined, and the business will hit roadblocks without any

immediate solutions to move forward (Lazzari, 2019)

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References

Dopico, A. (2021, November 6). What could BlackBerry have done differently? –
JanetPanic.com. JANETPANIC.COM. https://janetpanic.com/what-could-blackberry-
have-done-differently/#What_could_BlackBerry_have_done_differently
Frontier Strategy - Corporate Strategy Consulting - Growth, Innovation, and Business Model
Transformation Consultants - Specialists in Blue Ocean Strategy. (n.d.). Frontier
Strategy. Retrieved February 27, 2022, from
http://frontierstrategy.com/rim_blackberry.html
Lazzari, Z. (2019, January 22). The Importance of Business Strategies. Small Business -
Chron.Com. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-business-strategies-
4630.html
Luo, J. (2018, February 1). The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again?) of BlackBerry. Digital
Innovation and Transformation. https://digital.hbs.edu/platform-digit/submission/the-
rise-and-fall-and-rise-again-of-blackberry/
Muthukumar, R., Ramakrishnan, L., & Krishnamacharyulu, C. S. G. (2017). Turnaround of
Blackberry. International Journal of Management Cases, 19(4), 4–21.
https://www.circleinternational.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/19.4.pdf#page=4
Reeves, M., & Diemler, M. (2011, July). Adaptability: The New Competitive Advantage.
Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2011/07/adaptability-the-new-competitive-
advantage
Statista. (2022, February 23). BlackBerry OS market share in the United Kingdom (UK)
2011–2021. https://www.statista.com/statistics/271243/blackberry-os-market-share-
in-the-united-kingdom-uk/
SWOT Analysis of Blackberry. (n.d.). Management Study Guide.
https://www.managementstudyguide.com/swot-analysis-of-blackberry.htm
Young, J. (2022, January 14). Understanding the Calm Waters of Blue Ocean Market
Opportunities. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blue_ocean.asp